This special program, aimed at studio art and art history majors, offers students a unique opportunity to study in what is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance and one of the most important European centers of western art, science, literature and architecture: Florence, Italy. Join us here on our journey!

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Syllabus, etc.

Drawing and Painting - Investigation Based on
Observation

The Sketchbook As An Esssential Companion

Course Description and Objectives

In this class we will explore principles of the drawing and
painting process through observation of objects, people and spaces, as well as
through conceptual means. You will be guided through learning how to describe
with quick execution and simplicity, while focusing on information and
structure. We will explore seeing and drawing, translating space,
capturing gesture and mood, interpreting value through light and shadow, and we
will extend our traditional preconceptions about the parameters of drawing and
painting. This course is designed to allow students
to gain further experience in developing personal drawing toward greater
creative flexibility, technical ability, and a high degree of expression.

A good
portion of the work we do will take place “on site,” or, on location. We will
break our habit of engaging in art making only in traditional spaces that are
convenient or well appointed. We will give up only being able to make art when
we are comfortable.

The experiences
and processes presented to you will be a means to get you thinking and working,
and you will experience being an artist in your environment, at all times. This
approach is intended to trigger further artistic exploration on your part. This
will be accomplished through building, on a weekly basis, work that takes place
outside our studio time.

Making
images as an act and as an end has many functions- documentation and recording,
communication and expression, storytelling, extended thought, and more. Your
experience in Florence will broaden your ideas of how and why you make images,
thereby increasing your abilities to generate your own creative space. The
objective of this course is to provide you with the time, space and points of
departure upon which your basic skills will evolve, your drawing vocabulary
will increase, and your definitions of drawing and painting will be expanded
and become more fluid and more wholly integrated into your daily practice.

Assignments to Augment
Studio/Class Work:

Additionally, sketchbook and experiential
assignments will be ongoing activities that will require you to record, and
make extended work from these beginnings - Themes and subject matter will be
assigned, but you will be expected to develop and expand the images and the
ideas.

The semesters’ work will be categorized
by these groupings:

· Drawing
and painting on site: landscape, architecture, people and activities.

7)Other finished work as conceived of by Prof.
Lucchesi, coordinating with class and homework activity.

8)Two full blog posts featuring photographs and
writing reflecting on your experiences, as well as some examples of your work
and/or process. You will consult with the instructor regarding the artwork
images before posting them. These postings will be entered, according to
schedule, at http://uconnflorence.blogspot.com/

Exhibition:

At the end of the semester you will
exhibit some of your work at Palazzo Rucellai. In the spring semester you
will exhibit selected works at in the Art and Art History Building in Storrs.

Participation/Critiques/Due Dates:

You are required to attend each class, including arriving on
time and being prepared to work. Participation
in studio days, critiques (which means being both present and contributing in
an articulate way to discussion), finishing work by the due dates, and cleaning
up the studio space (regularly) before leaving is mandatory.

The course is experiential, and missing class is not
acceptable. Absences cannot be made up and assignments will not be extended.
Emergency absence may be necessary due to illness or emergencies, but these
must be serious occurrences.

After two absences, your semester grade will be lowered by ½
a letter, and so on.